I Do
by darkblueballoon
Summary: For Bors and Vanora, it's a long road to marriage. But to one of their grandchildren it's just a story. Can't do summaries. Please read n review.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from KA. I am just borrowing them for the story.

Please review, but don't flame me. Just saying 'this is rubbish' does not help. Constructive critism welcome. If anyone sees any spelling mistakes, tell me and I'll correct them. Now, on with the show. 

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I Do

Prologue

"What was he like?" the little girl looked up at her mother.

"What was who like?" her mother asked as she continued patching old clothes. For a second or two, the girl sat and watched as her mother drew the needle in and out of the fabric, trailing the thread behind it.

"King Arthur, of course," the girl answered when she could drag her eyes away from her mother's work.

Her mother stopped working and placed the torn garment on the small table beside her. She reached out her arms and her young daughter climbed up onto her lap. The woman sat quietly for a few minutes stroking her daughter's dark hair before answering her question.

"You know your grandfather, Bors, fought with him, don't you?"

"You mean Papa's papa? Really?" the girl's eyes were wide with amazement and grew even wider when her mother nodded.

"The very same. Your grandfather rarely had a bad word for him, so he must have been as good as the stories say."

"Tell me one of the stories, Mama, please," the girl looked up at her mother, making sure her face was at its most endearing.

"Seren, it's getting late. You should be getting ready for bed," the girl's mother looked pointedly at the open door, where it was possible to tell that night had almost fallen.

"Please, Mama. I'll be up early tomorrow, I promise. Please?" Seren looked up at her mother and laughed when she saw the stern expression fall away.

"Fine, but first you have to know something. Lancelot, Tristan and Dagonet did not die in those dark days."

"They didn't?" the little girl looked up at her mother in confusion.

"No, they didn't. They came very close, none more so than Dagonet. But somehow they pulled through. I won't claim to know how. But I do know they took a long time to recover and they were never quite the same afterwards. But you are too young for that. You want a happy story so that you dream of happy things. So what to tell you?" the woman looked down at her daughter, exaggerating the expression of thought with brows furrowed, lips pursed white, eyes squinting. Then all of a sudden, "Ah ha!"

"What Mama?"

"I will tell you how your grandparents finally got married."

It was a story the little girl had heard before, but no matter how many times she heard it, she always wanted to hear it again.

"Now, don't be fooled, little one. It is a long story, and not always funny,"

The words came easily, as they always did when her mother told stories. Seren closed her eyes and rested her head on her mother's shoulder and listened to her mother's warm voice as she started to tell the story.

"It was two years after the called Arthur King. Your papa was still a boy, but he was the one who told me. It all started with an argument between your grandfather and your grandmother, Vanora…"


	2. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from KA, unfortunately.

I would like to thank **Hannah** and **UnicornTKD** for reviewing. I hope I haven't disappointed. I know the chapter is short, but it's the best I can manage for now. I promise the next, if people like this one enough, will be longer. Please read and review.

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I Do

Chapter One

"No Bors. That's not good enough!" Vanora's voice was raised just short of shouting. "How many times have you made that promise? One, two hundred times?"

Vanora glared at him for a few seconds before turning her back on her lover and storming across the room to where her youngest child was looking nervously from one parent to another, too young to understand anything other than things weren't happy and smiley.

"Van, what more do you want? I'm doing the best I can here," he said as he started to walk towards her only to be stopped by a fierce look.

"Well, in that case, your best isn't good enough."

Bors stood in silence, his jaw hanging open comically. He could see from her face that Vanora regretted her words, and he felt deflated. Was this what they had come to? Things had been going fine, as far as he could tell, but then Arthur had to go and get himself married. That's were all this had started. He knew how the story should end, but that didn't mean he knew how to get there.

"C'mere," he said walking over to Vanora and the child who she now held tightly in her arms. Before Vanora had a chance to say anything, he had drawn the pair into his arms. He loved hearing the sound of his children breathing. He would never tell anyone but it made his heart swell each and every time. He smiled down at the wide eyes that were still looking anxiously from mother to father.

"We'll come through. One way or another, we'll make it. All of us, together. Me, you, this littl'un, Gilly and the others. I promise from the bottom of my heart."

In reply he heard Vanora sniff and he pulled her closer to him. Then he pulled back and bent down to kiss the two-year-old on her dainty little nose.

"This one's going to be beautiful like her mother," Bors said as he kissed Van.

"And as stubborn as her father," Vanora added, pulling back with a small smile on her face.

Bors shook his head and tickled the girl's tummy, making her giggle.

"Van, I-" Bors started but was cut off almost immediately by a knock on the door.

"Arthur requests your presence presently," someone called from the other side of the door. Probably a servant of some sort.

Bors growled and Vanora pursed her lips. Bors knew that she didn't always agree with the obligations he felt himself bound to through Arthur, but she understood enough to know it meant much to him. She didn't know how grateful he was for that understanding.

"Arthur re-"

"I heard you the first time," Bors ground out through gritted teeth. Why was it someone always wanted him when he was about to bring up something important with Van?

"Go," Vanora said, turning him by his shoulders and gently pushing him towards the door. "I'll still be here when you get back, but it's about time this little one had a rest. Sooner you go, sooner you'll be back."

Bors grumbled something else and kissed her before leaving. He stalked through the hallways, across the courtyard, through more corridors and into the large stone room with its famous table. He slumped down in his chair and stared at the table. He glanced up as the others came in.

They looked even more of a rag-tag bunch now. Galahad looked tired, his skin was pale and he had large shadows under his eyes. Gawain was little better. Too much drink. Lancelot, Tristan and his Dagonet no longer seemed to be entirely focused on the world about them. For Tristan it wasn't much of a change. And only slightly more so for Dag. But Lancelot? Bors couldn't remember the man so much as looking at a woman since he had been told by the physician that all his wounds had healed, or at least the physical ones. The only one who hadn't really changed was Arthur himself, although he had stopped wearing Roman armour on all but the most ceremonial of occasions. For some reason that always made Bors laugh.

"You'll want to know why you're here," Arthur started.

"No, not really," someone replied from the other side of the room.

Arthur carried on as though the words had not been spoken. "The Angles that were allowed to settle in the east have broken the agreement. More are landing on Britain's shores, and are slowly taking more and more land." Arthur stopped for a few moments before finishing. "We have to stop them."

"We?" shouted Galahad rising to his feet. "What happened to those garrisons you posted, huh Arthur? You said they would be enough."

"I know I did. And for almost two years they had worked. But you know Britain is good land, especially there in the east. But I need two of you to lead the newly trained infantry south to reinforce the garrisons."

A long silence followed. Bors knew that in some weird, twisted way, the knights had become attached to the more northern parts of the country. As the silence grew longer Bors could hear the others start to become restless and fidget.

"I'll go," Galahad said after a long time, followed swiftly by Gawain.

"Thank you. I would like you to be ready within the week. That is all," Arthur said before turning and leaving.

Bors took that as his cue to follow suit. As he left the building to cross the compound, he saw Lucan hovering by the door waiting for Dagonet. The lad had grown over the two years. He'd seen him and his Gilly wrestling more than once and had to agree, grudgingly, that Lucan was a fine opponent.

He found himself hurrying to get back to his rooms. He opened the door to find the younger children curled up asleep. He saw the older ones helping their mother, or trying to. In Gilly's case the help seemed to be causing more trouble than it did good.

"Bors, help me with this," Vanora commanded, as she bent to pick up a basket.

Bors complied, stepping over the sleeping children to get there. He was surprised by how heavy it was. Maybe being a woman wasn't the easiest thing after all if you had to carry this day after day. He much preferred the thought of what he did. At least he got to see more of the world than a woman who spent her time either in a tavern or looking after a small tribe of children.

It was some time later that the rooms were up to Vanora's standards. As soon as their mother had pronounced the work done, the older children had fled the room while somehow managing to miss their younger siblings in the rush.

"You know what Bors," Van started.

Bors gulped. That sounded ominous.

"It's about time we gave them names, don't you think?"


End file.
